Once Upon a Pet Show (A Redpoint One Romance) (23 page)

"I figured it was something like that." She
poked him in the chest with a finger. "You should have talked to
me. There may be possibilities."

His eyebrows pushed together. "What sort of
possibilities?"

"Thought you would never ask." She turned and
started walking, following Penny's trace. As she did, she started
talking about the new lead. Of what it could mean. What it could
mean to her future ability to change locations.

"It will give me flexibility. It's a good
start. If they have a good habitat they can adapt to, then it means
not all my time is spoken for," Vallory continued.

He wasn't as enthusiastic as she'd hoped, but
at least he started talking. Asking about the location, about the
grant, about how the daubpups might do there. Nothing about her
coming back to Redpoint One, but that could come in time. At least
they were moving in the right direction, and she still had a little
bit of time to work on it.

Damien started taking the lead as they moved
down several levels and into the maintenance corridors. Penny
really took off this time. But then, all of them did this time.
Yes, time bring them together into their new enclosure. Before they
moved further into the depths of the station.

"I hope the baby didn't have trouble traveling
this far," Vallory said, looking up from the computer. "Penny is
rather hard-headed, and might be a new mother."

Damien turned again, the bot now trailing
behind both of them. "She's attentive, isn't she?"

"Yes, but then, I don't know what an attentive
daubpup mother is like. No one does."

"I don't think you'll be able to leave
them."

The comment came out of nowhere, said with a
mixture of sadness and regret. It told her more than he probably
realized. That he wished they didn't pull so much of her
attention.

"I want a life of some sort for me," Vallory
said with conviction. "Right now, I have none. Still can be worked
out."

As with many things, it was all in the
details. She got things done others didn't because she refused to
take no for an answer and refused to give up. She could do it with
this. Her heart depended on it.

Thankfully he didn't argue. Just kept leading
deeper into the station. She was glad he came with her. She was
totally lost, and hadn't seen a free-roaming repair bot in quite
some time.

Damien turned another corner, only here the
pipes ended in a plain solid wall. It looked so much like the
bulkhead door that once tried to trap her that a cold shiver went
over her.

"Oh, right. We'll have to go around." Damien
turned to head back to the corridor they'd just left.

"Is it another dead area of the station?"
Vallory eyed it, forcing herself to move past the memory of the
other door. "It doesn't quite feel dead."

"It's not." He motioned for her to follow him.
"You know that Redpoint One is of alien origins? Well, we don't
know how every part of it works. Some parts of it we've never seen,
as the station keeps it sealed off. This is one of those spaces.
Not dead, just not accessible to us."

"And Penny is on the other side of it. How big
is it?"

"This one is rather big. It will take a good
walk to get to the other side."

Hopefully Penny would still be there. When the
daubpups went exploring, they could travel great
distances.

With time needed to walk around the area, it
meant she could talk about something else. She put the computer
back in her pocket, taking advantage of a wider than normal
maintenance corridor to move up next to him.

Before she could say anything, he took her
hand and tucked it under his, his other hand laying over hers where
it rested on his forearm. Just like the other times. So automatic
that it hurt her heart.

Oh yes, no matter what happened, she needed to
do something to bring to rights this part of her life. She wanted
more of this. More of the quiet moments. Even the arguing. He
didn't back down from her like others. Stood his ground and said
what he wanted to say. She loved every part of it.

"I'll figure out a way to make it work. You
are too important." She lightly squeezed his forearm. He didn't say
anything, but the subtle clues on his face told her he would like
that. "In the meantime, what are we doing for dinner tonight? Even
if you have to work late, I'll wait up until you are
finished."

"Take what time we have?"

"Well, I do need to get things set up, so yes,
enjoy the time we have here. Then we can make plans for when I come
back for visits, and maybe permanently when the time
comes."

She let him mull on that in silence. Finally,
he said, "You sound so confident."

"I'm willing to go after what I
want."

He squeezed her hand, one side of his mouth
quirking into a smile. "As do I, so yes, time for a serious talk
once we can concentrate on it."

She could accept that. More than she hoped to
get him to admit to today, so doing well. Then she would need to
get down to business and figure out the daubpup issue. Make it
happen, and do it fast. If she intended to eventually come to
Redpoint One, that meant she needed to find someone who was as
interested and caring about the daubpups as she was. Maybe that
would silence the disquiet in her about leaving them behind. With
the proper grant money, it should make the study attractive enough
to choose from a field of candidates.

"Good. We're agreed." Vallory glanced back at
where his bot trailed after them. "Have you named it
yet?"

"No, and yes, I have been trying."

"I've been trying with the baby, too. No
reaction so far."

A flash of silvery gray, and a solid wall flew
across the corridor, slamming into the other side. Damien's bot
disappeared from sight, caught on the other side.

Vallory's heart thudded in her chest as she
jerked her hand out under Damien's hand. "It's feeling like the old
place!"

A closing in. A sense of something wrong,
coming from all sides.

Damien grabbed her hand and jerked her
forward. "Run!"

She didn't need any other encouragement. She
took off running, only a step behind Damien.

The same type of door slammed shut in front of
them, almost right in front of their noses.

No sounds, no movement of air. Just them with
closed bulkhead doors in front and behind them, with a short dead
end blocked by the station. A small area to become trapped in. More
like an odd shaped closet than a section of corridor.

Vallory swallowed hard, reaching out to grab
his arm, just to feel something warm and solid. "See a
hatch?"

"There isn't one in this area."

"No, not a big one. A small one for a bot.
Something we can squeeze through."

"None of those, either."

"How can you be sure? You haven't looked
around yet."

"Because I work with the station for a living.
I know things instinctively. There isn't one."

Not something she wanted to hear. Her heart
beat even harder, her lungs threatening to seize up. She whispered,
"Please tell me your bot can get us out somehow."

He smiled. A genuine one without any
inhibitions. The first one she'd seen since the day before. One
she'd missed tremendously.

He lifted his wrist, showing the wide
communication computer band around it. "Do you really think we
would be out here repairing an alien space station having issues
without additional protection?"

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

"SO, I WENT to investigate quick," Rachel was
saying over Arthur's communicator. Officer Redsong stood nearby as
a forensics team continued to comb over Vallory's former daubpup
enclosure.

He scowled down at it. "I don't care about the
reasoning behind it, Rachel. You are still on sick leave. You
should not be doing anything related to the station."

"It's more complicated than that," Rachel
started.

"No excuses. Let us deal with it." He knew
Rachel after working with her for years. If he gave in on this, she
would soon be 'unofficially' back at full hours fixing little
things as she came onto them. Sick leave or no sick
leave.

"Will you just listen for a second? The reason
my bots insisted I look was that I'm at Ignacio's house right now,
and it has to do with the waste water systems in the same
industrial area. A clog. To be honest, we all thought it might be
Irvine getting loose again. Ignacio brought him back to the
warehouse to prep him for shipment to his new home with a rare
breeder who is heading home early from the show. Only, it wasn't
Irvine. That's why I'm calling you."

"Fine, I'll set someone else down there. Thank
you for letting me know of the issue," Arthur started to lower his
arm. Time to get back with the show officials about the findings
from the police.

Only, Rachel was apparently not finished.
"It's a clog of some sort, only I don't know of any industry in
this area that could cause this type. Then Ignacio mentioned he'd
seen a little activity at a warehouse I know is not in use. Then I
thought about the pet-nappings happening up there and how close
this is. Getting my drift here?"

"A stolen pet might be clogging up the pipes?
So far only rare breeds of felines and canines have gone missing.
Nothing aquatic."

Rachel laughed. "No, not them in the pipe.
Their fur in the pipe. Since the warehouses are shut down, so are
their main pipes. The only thing that would still be working
without being turned on would be a bathroom. I think that's what is
clogged."

Officer Redsong appeared at his side. "Where
is this? We can match it with the animal movements."

"See? This is why I called," Rachel said
smugly. Arthur could mentally picture the matching smug
smile.

With no choice, he led Officer Redsong to the
industrial area housing Ignacio's breeding operation. An area
around three-quarters full of tenants, meaning activity was normal.
But, Ignacio would know who to expect to see. He had to trust that
observation.

It didn't stop him from glaring down at Rachel
once they arrived outside Ignacio's door. She stood tall as he told
her point-blank. "Off-duty means off-duty. No quick investigations
until cleared by a doctor, either. I mean it Rachel."

She gave him a mock salute. "You got it,
boss."

Just like Tish, grinning as she said it. No
repentance at all. Ignacio grinned from behind her at the front
door. Probably had seen this part of Rachel's nature plenty in the
short time they'd been together.

"I mean it," he said for good
measure.

Officer Redsong stepped forward, interrupting.
"What warehouse is the problem located in?"

Rachel pointed to the right. "Two doors down.
I've confirmed it's supposed to be vacant." She shrugged. "I know
it's a small lead, but maybe something will come of it."

"A good instinct." Officer Redsong worked at
her pocket computer. Over her shoulder, Arthur saw a combined map
of the daubpups movements the night the cat reappeared and a map of
the station. "It looks like an animal named "Frumpmuffin" traveled
through the area."

Ignacio barked out laughter. "Frumpmuffin?
This is the name of a pet?"

Rachel smiled at him. "The daubpups. Remember
we went by to see Vallory Schist yesterday?"

"Right. And I set her up with meetings to help
her out with them." He nodded slowly, looking down the row of
warehouses. "Traveled through here? How? Another animal moving
through the pipes? I don't recall her saying they were aquatic in
nature."

"You'll have to ask her." Arthur walked down
the sidewalk to stop in front of the warehouse. Nothing from the
outside showed evidence of use, but then most warehouses didn't.
Warehouses weren't designed to have front display windows or big
showrooms, at least, not in this area. "We'll have to get
permission to enter."